ABOUT ME​
My name is Helena and for the last ten years I have been a reception teacher. I am qualified to teach any Primary School year but I found reception is the year I love to teach the most. The reason I love teaching reception is how fulfilling it is to witness and be part of the amount of progress I see in my pupils over the year.

I knew from a young age that I wanted to work with kids. When I was 11 years old, I was shopping with my mum and I heard a baby crying. I naturally wanted to check that the baby was alright, so I found the baby and as soon as I started talking to them and smiling , they stopped crying and would not stop looking at me smiled back. This was when my mother told me for the first of many times that I appeared to have a natural rapport with children and I should be a teacher.
In 2001, when I was 15 years old, I sadly lost my mother to cancer. The passing of my mother was an incredibly difficult time for my three siblings, my father and me. When the time came to decide on a career path to take, it did not take me long to settle on teaching. On reflection, I feel the passing of my mother made her encouraging words about my ability with children more poignant and I believe that my career choice was in some way for her. If my mother was still with us, I hope that she would be proud of what I have accomplished as a teacher and I would tell her thank you and that I love her very much.
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I graduated from St Mary’s College in 2008 after completing a four year BA (ITT - Initial Teacher Training) in Teaching with a QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) specialising in Science. I have held a permanent teaching role in two separate schools and prior to that worked as a supply teacher for three years. I have held the role of reception teacher at my current school for seven years and in that time have also become assistant lead of Mathematics for Reception and Key Stage 1.
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In addition to my teaching degree, I have completed training in Maths Mastery. Maths Mastery is where children gain a deep and secure understanding of the subject rather than just rote learning (learning by memory). By gaining a deeper understanding of the subject, children can progress with their learning much.
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In 2019, I ran a maths club where I selected and taught a team of pupils that I entered into a big maths competition called Count on Us. Count on Us is a maths competition run by the Major of London, with the final being held at the Mayor of London’s headquarters. My team performed incredibly well and we proudly came 1st in the Harrow region and 6th overall out of 92 schools.
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Over the school year I run and am involved with workshops for reception parents. These workshops are incredibly useful for parents to help them support their children throughout the year and I often receive positive feedback.
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I am currently a private tutor and coach outside of regular school hours with a number of clients. I really enjoy these sessions as I get to focus on one child or parent at a time and I enjoy seeing the positive results of our work.